Sarah Stephens
Elmore Autauga News
Autauga County Schools Superintendent Lyman Woodfin will be visiting area municipalities within Autauga County in the coming weeks to talk to them about a possible partnership that would enable the school system to continue moving forward. His first stop was Monday, where he addressed the Autauga County Commission, asking for a partnership of some type that would bring in additional funding to allow for future projects.
He said he also plans to address other entities, such as the City of Prattville, Billingsley, Pine Level, Marbury and Autaugaville.
Since the majority of Autauga County voters said “No” to an Ad Valorem tax increase for education, the school board and staff have worked to try to find other options for funding, and cost savings. There are some issues they have been able to alleviate, even without the added funding. However, Autauga County schools remain at the bottom of the list throughout the state when it comes to funding for education.
It was announced several months ago that Autaugaville School would be closing, as student numbers are low, and there was difficulty in recruiting and retaining teachers. Autaugaville was also listed as a failing school in the state report card, which would have required more expense of additional teachers to come and instruct in specialized areas, for extra help. It also opened up the door for parents to choose another school within Autauga County to enroll their kids in the coming year. Enough had given notice to the school board that it would be their choice for next year, making the already low numbers of students a bigger problem.
Supt. Lyman Woodfin has said that choosing to close the Autaugaville school has been one of the most difficult decisions in his career, but no other options were available. He did say Monday night that there are currently no plans to close more schools in the near future.
The Autauga School Board voted to hire Centurion Consultants last year, to look at the overall budget. The study also considered if the City of Prattville ever decided to go with a City School System, how that would impact the remaining Autauga County Schools. In Centurion’s study, it found that should Prattville ever start its own school system, the cost would be prohibitive. Sixty percent of all Autauga students reside in Prattville. The city would also have to take on any debt incurred, such as the debt from the construction of Prattville Kindergarten School, roof repairs of multiple schools, and would forever be responsible for maintaining aging school facilities within Prattville.
There had been early discussion of creating a possible Hybrid school, such as one in Georgia. However, once Centurion came back with their findings and study, the Hybrid System was put aside as unattainable.
In the end, Woodfin said he would rather the entire county and its municipalities work together to find additional funding and keep the county school system intact. The greatest needs currently are the construction of a new high school. It is also desired to build more schools in the Marbury and Pine Level areas, as both have outgrown their current facilities. Other than the new construction of school facilities, Prattville has the largest number of buildings that need renovations and/or additions, Woodfin said. This includes the very real need for a new high school for Prattville.
Monday night Woodfin told the Commission that Central Alabama Community College in Prattville has graciously agreed to offer land on their campus for a new high school.
That would allow for dual enrollment programs. However, that does not cover the estimated $150 million price tag for a new school. That would be a payment of roughly $9.4 million required each year until the debt is paid.
Woodfin said that due to current bond debt for Autauga Schools, taking out another bond for new projects is not possible. He said that the current bond debt could be paid off as early as 2029, but there are current needs for the school system that have to be addressed immediately. If a plan could come together to initiate new construction with other entities sharing the cost, there is a small amount of funds he could put up each year, perhaps one to two million. He would have more funds available, once the current bond debt is released possibly in 2029. Woodfin said he is asking area municipalities and organizations to work with Autauga County Schools and be a funding resource.
“The public does not understand that the state does not send us money to build new schools,” Woodfin said. He said the state has never fully funded education, and any shortfall is up to communities.
Commissioners listened to Woodfin’s presentation and will take it under consideration. They said it is important that he reach out to other areas as well and see if there is potential cooperation from other entities, up to and including donations from the public.
If you want more information on this issue, we highly suggest the following:
At the regular Autauga County School board meeting two weeks ago, Centurion Consultants gave their report on a complete study they conducted, to look at the financial resources needed to support a potential Prattville City School System, as well as its resulting impact on the Autauga County School system. You can view the full meeting at:
Supt. Lyman Woodfin also presented a State of Autauga County Schools
recently. If you missed it, you can view it here
Both presentations were excellent in showing the true state of the schools, the budget associated with their upkeep, and all expenses of running the school system at large.
While all of this is a very complicated process, Woodfin said the most important role that everyone can play is ensuring the best quality of education for all students of Autauga County.
Other schools across Alabama have taken the same path and have seen great success, he said.
We will have much more information to come on this issue, as Woodfin continues to reach out to other agencies, cities and towns to try to build a partnership. You can also visit the Autauga Schools website at
www.acboe.net
